Runaways
by kittygirl77
Summary: A pair of extrordinary twins are thrown into a world of magic and violence ever so suddenly. And are forced to run for their lives. But there's always a silver lining, even for runaways. Though Kris begins to wonder if this stoic man is a blessing or a curse. While Shaun is immediately drawn in by shy Sage. This is a story about love and war. And these kids were just recruited
1. Chapter 1: Running

"There's so much I had to say I know the words I left behind  
And now I'm caught in a daydream with nowhere to run and hide  
The world rushes by me, it's leaving me here all alone"

~Alanis Morisette Rain

* * *

Chapter 1: Running

* * *

"Hey, what do you kids think you're doing?!" Came a loud shout towards the two kids. "What are you doing out here at this time?" The police officer shined his flashlight towards the kids with accusational look. Within out hesitation, they quickly jumped out of the box car in before he could even see their faces. Without glancing back towards the officer, the three locked eyes.

"Run!" One of them shouted, his voice deep and masculine. He grabbed ahold of a smaller figure, the two jumping off in a hurry and running into the meadow. They couldn't get caught, they had to keep running. They kept running further into the meadow as the police officers voice slowly got drowned out. The green grass was dry and slowly turning a yellow hue and smacked up against their bodies roughly as they ran. They ran until there wasn't any noise but the tired panting coming from their own bodies. The two were hiding behind a sorry excuse for a tree, holding onto one another tightly, ready to attack if necessary.

"Do you think he's gone?" The boy whispered towards the eldest, loosening his grip on the smaller figure. She looked around the corner, seeing nothing but darkness.

"I think so," She sighed, pushing back her long, auburn hued locks. "That was a little too close for my likings. Shaun, did you grab the bags?" She asked, standing up to stretch out her legs. He pulled out two large duffel bags from behind him.

"Of course I did. This isn't my first rodeo you know," He winked, setting them down so they could sleep on them before the next train. Kris let out a aggravated sigh, pushing back her long hair in the humid air. The dessert air was chillier than she had thought it would be.

"I can go gather some twigs for a fire," The boy offered, shivering in the cold desert air.

Kris nodded. She was the oldest. If only by a few minutes from her twin brother though. But the oldest none the less. She had a mix of her fathers brown hair and her mothers blonde hair. It had turned into a mix of auburn colored hair with strands of blonde in it. She was rather fond of her hair to be honest. She got her fathers bright green eyes and her mothers small button nose. She was rather feisty but a leader nonetheless.

Shaun had a feminine face to be rather honest. It was was kind of obvious to see the two were twins. They both had wacky personalities and the same dark, creamy skin. They got the creamy hue from a mix of their fathers latin blood and their white mother. He got their mother's blue eyes unlike her. He had a cute nose, and round cheeks as well. They were a rather attractive family, if only to improve their rate of survival.

"That would be nice," Kris smiled kindly at her brother, looking through her bag for something to eat. Just as she pulled out a bag of beef jerky he was back with their bundle of twigs.

"Now how about a little fire?" She grinned, her eyes twinkling as electricity bounced between her fingers.

Things weren't always like this for them. They had been a normal family once. What seemed like ages ago. Or, as normal as a family appears. They lived in a nice suburban home, Kris and Shaun's dad had died before they were born, leaving their mother to raise twins by herself. If it wasn't for their step father, who knows what would have become of them? He was a kind man, at first at least. But as the years dragged on they became more aware of their situation at home, they realized he wasn't that kind at all. In fact, some might say he was a cruel, manipulative, bastard. But hey, that's just others talking right?

"Why don't you go to sleep for now? Who knows how long we'll be running," Kris sighed, looking at her watch. "We have two hours till the next train. Just sleep," her brother rolled his eyes at her controlling behavior.

"What ever you say Ms. Leader," He chuckled, slumping up against a tree and allowing his eyes to droop closed. Kris let out a tired sigh, looking up a the Texas sky and wondering exactly when everything went up in flames.

* * *

"FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT," Came the childrens loud chanting. They were outside of the school, surrounding two of the teens.

"I told you that I don't want to fight," Kris growled out, setting a hand on her hip at the older man. She really wasn't in a good mood today. Odd things had been happening to her for the past few days. During chemistry she touched a battery and it exploded. How does that even happen anyways? And just an hour ago she went into the supply closet and as soon as her hand touched the light switch, the lights began to flicker inconsistently. Now, she was pretty sure that these things don't normally happen. So, someone out there in the universe thought, let's make her have a shitty day. She wore a grey tank top and orange shorts with her usual all star, glaring at the man in front of her. She had other priorities, she _really_ didn't want to be here now. Especially since she knew the consequences of getting in a fight. She was a junior, he was a senior, anyone else see a problem with this? She was a mere 5' 5" While he was 6' 4", a brute looking man. He was already growing out his beard, she was barely making it to a C cup. He wasn't that handsome and she was sure he was known around the public school for getting in fights.

"Whatever, I heard you were the toughest kid at our school. But you don't look like much," he sneered, making a jab at her with his fist. She dodged it easily, looking at him with icy indifference. She glanced over to the side to see her younger brother with the books from the library he had left minutes ago to go grab.

"Listen, I'd love to stay and play but I've got to get home and work on my homework," she rolled her eyes, flipping her hair at the man as she walked away. He let out a growl and ran at her quickly, she swiftly stuck out her leg, tripping him. If he wasn't pissed off before, he was now. He looked up to see a frightened girl and made a grab for her. Now if anything pissed Kris off more was when a man used a woman as leverage in a fight. Kris immediately ran at him in anger, a strange new feeling overriding her senses. She punched at him, a bolt of electricity wrapped around her hand as she did so. He passed out immediately but she couldn't help but feel a bit peeved as she stared at her hand. Was that her imagination?

"Look out!" Shaun shouted, motioning towards his friends running at her. Shaun's eyes flashed yellow for a second and he caught one of the guys fist. The boy cried out in pain, falling to his knees at the tight grip from Shaun. Kris was finished beating up the other guy only to look back to see the other boy crying at Shaun's mercy.

"H-hey, bro?" She looked at him in confusion. He blinked, just as confused as she was, looking down at the crying boy in shock.

"U-um? Let's just go home," He grabbed his little sisters hand in shock, looking back at the three boys with a sense of curiosity. The twins looked at one another, unsure about what had just happened with them. No, this was _not _a good day.

* * *

"Welcome back children," Came the scratchy voice of their aunt. "I heard you got in another fight Kris," She scolded. The older woman turned to the twings, staring down the eldest. She was a haggard looking old woman. With droopy cheeks that reminded others of a bull dog, most likely from smoking so much. She had dull brown eyes, small and always seeming to glare at others. Her lips were thin and she always had a fake smile on them. Kris had no idea how her gorgeous mother had been related to her.

"Of course not, he just fell into my fist. Honestly," Kris put a fake smile on her face to match the older woman's, though her lips were much more fuller than the older woman. The Nightingales were no strangers to Ms. Renard's scolding. She seemed to have it out for them ever since they came five years ago. Now Kris was infamous for getting in fights with no good boys. Though it was always self-defense and the school board knew it. She had gotten known around the schools for being able to take down boys, so naturally, people wanted to challenge her. She never picked a fight...well, usually she didn't. Shaun was a kind guy, especially when compared to his brute sister. The two always tried to help others, in their own ways of course. Shaun was the athletic one who liked to be in plays. While Kris was the debater and the computer hacker. They were, without a doubt, an exceptional family.

"Well how about you go ahead and head into my office for now, I'll be in there to talk to you about what happened," She smiled at her, her knuckles cracking in anticipation. She should have known better, but by this time aggravation and weariness had addled her brain, so she would cajole Ms. Renard to punish her. Now, Kris had a sharp tongue, and always seemed to know how to piss her off. Well not just her, she was good at pissing off most people. Not sure I'd call it a skill but she most certainly could do it. Though she never thought it was her fault. Ms. Renard was simply a caitiff woman who feared Kris's rebelliousness and lashed out in her fear. Very typical but still wrong.

"I'd expect nothing different," Kris waved her hand, walking into the old office she also got 'scolded' in. Her brother probably was off studying in the mean time. Who knows, she had her own issues right then. And they were dealing with the old bat. She scanned the office. There was a old wooden fireplace, surrounded by bookcases that were covered with dust. Now, Kris had never actually looked at her surroundings in the office, too busy getting beaten by the old bat. Twas her punishment for such unladylike behavior. But that was nothing compared to the fights she usually got in. She looked at the books. There were typical child psychology novels, ecology, she was surprised to find some interesting titles in Ms. Renard's collection. She stared at the desk, looking back at the door. Maybe she could take a peek. You know, check to see if their papers were in there. She grinned deviously, walking over to the old Victorian desk and opening the drawers. She began to leaf though the papers for her families, her eyes twinkling once she found all of their necessary papers. She quickly snatched their folders, just as a large envelope fell out from her folder. She stared at it in curiosity before hearing foot steps and began to panic. She pulled out the papers, shutting the drawer quickly and running to the chair in front of the desk. Just as Ms. Renard entered the room she shoved the papers into her book bag, looking up at her with an innocent smile.

"Must we always do this?" Ms. Renard growled once she turned around, glaring at the girl.

"Well that's up to you isn't it?" Kris chuckled before a ruler came flying towards her face, quickly smacking the smirk off her face.

* * *

"Honestly Kris, you need to stop edging her own," Shaun sighed once she exited the room. Her brother had waited for her promptly by the door, just like he always did. He was slumped up against the wall, his dark brown hair looked almost black in the dim lighting. He always kept his bangs to the right while she kept hers to the left. His hair was always straight, almost eerily perfect. And to be honest, it secretly always peeved Kris how perfect it always seemed to be. She chuckled as she played with a chunck of gray hairs on the side of his head.

"Eh, a few bruises wont faze me. Adds character," She winked, grabbing her brothers hand and walking towards their room. "But I found something interesting," She chuckled, holding up her book bag like she would a trophy.

"Oh no, don't tell me you took our papers?" He let out a aggravated sigh. "You know she's gonna be really pissed once she finds out about that. Not to mention, I'm pretty sure it's illegal to do that."

"Whatever," Kris stuck out her tongue as they entered their room. "They're our papers, I'm pretty sure it's not illegal to take what's rightfully ours." There were two twin beds in their bedroom. Their Aunt wasn't a rich woman and they were forced to live in a small two bedroom house. But it was all the same to them, so long as they were together. The only things in their were their clothes, books, two duffel bags that they had used when they went camping, and Kris's laptop. She set the bag down on the desk to pull out their papers, the envelope from before falling out.

"What's that?" Shaun asked, motioning towards the yellow envelope.

"Not sure," Kris mumbled, opening it up with Shaun looking over her shoulder. Out came a bunch of letters and a leather journal. "What are these? Blackmail?" She sneered, leafing through the papers.

"Hey, these are letters between Auntie and some asylum in Phoenix," Shaun's eyes widened as he looked at them. "They're about our mother!" He muffled his shout with his hand and tugged on Kris's shirt harshly while she swatted at him effortlessly.

"That's not possible, probably just a bunch of bullshit," Kris sneered. "Mom ran away from us. She is probably dead somewhere," Kris exclaimed.

"Don't say something like that," Shaun growled, just as Kris grabbed the papers from his hands.

"Hey, ouch, paper cut," Shaun growled, clucking his tongue at his sister's rash behavior as he held onto his hand tightly. The lights began to flicker and Kris cursed, what a shitty day!

"You're seventeen, don't be such a wuss," She rolled her eyes before promptly looking at the papers. "No way, this one was dated two months ago." She held up the paper for him as proof. He narrowed his eyes, staring the letter down with those bright blue eyes of his. "It could be someone else though..."

"What do you mean someone else? Like auntie knows someone else known as Ann Nightingale," Shaun rolled his eyes, hesitating as he watched his sister. "Well what should we do about this?" Shaun asked, looking at his sister for guidance.

"I don't know, is there anything we can really do? We're still minors," Kris sighed, falling on his bed. "I don't just want to give up my life for some slim chance that it's her."

"What about this journal thing? It's for us," He held it up.

"Well then, why don't you read it," Kris mumbled. "I'm tired, i'm taking a nap."

"What so we should just ignore it?" He shouted, immediately covering his mouth and looking at the door.

"HEY, don't forget that SHE left US. Why should we have to chase after her?" Kris snipped with a rough tone. "Now I'm tired so i'm taking a nap," She huffed, turning away from him.

"Hey, that's my bed," Shaun growled, rolling his eyes before sitting on the edge of the bed to read the large journal. He couldn't help but want to believe that his mom was out there. That perhaps...she didn't run away from them. Afterall, a beautiful dream is better than a painful one.

* * *

2 days later

Kris began to drift between reality and the dream world, succumbing to the sweet lull of sleep just as she always did when she first got home from school. There she stood, in a bright red meadow of flowers. A dome of ice surrounded her, securing her that she was safe here. No one bad could get to her in this sanctuary of hers. Plopping down on the soft flowers, she could see a crescent moon hugging the bright orb representing the sun. It truly was a beautiful place. Now, it had been quite awhile since she had such a tranquil dream. Not that she was complaining. Floating candles surrounded the air, like a scene out of harry potter. She snickered at the thought as she rolled over on her stomach. Suddenly, there was a light, beautiful sound calling out to her. Jumping up, she began to look for the source of that beautiful sound. Where was it coming from? Walking towards a random direction she hoped the sound emitted from, she began to notice the scene change. The flowers began to ice over and the sky took on a light pink hue. It looked like large, swirling cotton candy. So surreal that she felt she could reach out and take a bite from the delectable looking clouds. But the music was calling her, and she felt compelled to answer it.

The violin was becoming more clear, and she could hear the light playing of a piano in the background. But that wasn't the main show. No, the main show was the beautiful sound, so vindictive and charming. She closed her eyes, she knew the song. She recognized it from the comedian, Louie C.K. He had played it in one of his shows before. What was the name again? Ah, yes. Czardas composed by none other than Vittorio Monit. Such a beautiful song, she thought, her feet dancing to the soft beat. She had a yearning feeling to find whomever was playing this song. And there he was. Standing underneath the largest willow tree she'd ever seen. A body of water surrounded the small island the tree resided on. His eyes were closed as he focused intently on playing the notes, his long, fingers stroking the violin delicately. She could feel his gravitational pull and before she realized it, she was walking straight towards the body of water. She needed to get closer. She stepped on top of the water, surprised she was sinking before remembering that this was just a dream. That's right. It's just a dream. And this man is just a figment of her imagination. So why did she feel she needed to touch him? to see him? She looked up at the lightening, exploding in the sky silently. And suddenly, she was standing in front of him. Staring at him in amazement as he played the alluring instrument. Those dark black locks of his were messy and his bangs brushed to the right in what seemed like a hurry. She wanted so badly to reach out and touch the mussy hair of his. It covered a bit of his eyebrow and clung to forehead where perspiration transpired. His eyes were closed and she could see those feathery black eyelashes of his. His face was thin with an angled chin. His lips thin and a light gumdrop pink. Those small ears of his were adorned with silver piercings that lit up under the pink sky. Those legs of his were long and slender, and clad in black dress pants with a white dress shirt tucked in with a green trench coat that was unbuttoned with the arm sleeves pushed up. A white scarf wrapped around his neck. His appearance made her blush, he was a very gorgeous man. And it made her wonder, did she not like being single? Was this her subconscious in the form of a very sexy looking man telling her to go out there and mate? What was this, she screamed in her mind, staring numbly at the man. His song ended and he let out a deep, ever so alluring sigh. Just as his began to flutter open those eyes of his she began to drift away from the world. She let out scream and threw her hand out to grab onto him, she didn't want to leave this imaginary man. And just as she woke up, the only thought echoing her mind was the image of those eyes of his. They were the most interesting orb she had every seen and the image was branded in her mind. Those eyes of his were outlined by a dark blue that slowly grew lighter the closer to the middle it got. Then there was a layer of yellow and orange that looked like the sun during an eclipse, surrounded by a bright blue sky. The image would forever ring in her mind. Central heterochromia. She remembered studying it in biology, it was a rare recessive gene, a pigment issue in ones eye. But she could only think that it was the most beautiful pair of eyes she had ever seen.

* * *

"Kris, Kris wake up," Shaun shook her shoulders rapidly, trying to get his sister back to their world.

"what?" She grumbled, wiping at her eyes, refusing to get up all the way. She was comfortable under Shaun's pickachu blanket and the image of the boys eyes was still on her mind. Why would she dream about that?

"It's been 2 hours, don't you need to be studying for exams?" He asked, she let out a sigh as she noticed the clock.

"Thanks Shaun," she smiled while he only nodded nonchalantly. "So what was up with the journal?" She yawned.

"Well it looks like mom wrote a bunch of weird things in here. Things about survival and she even talks about monsters and magic. And...something about a organization that's trying to kill special people..." He scratched his head. "I don't know something seems odd about this. I think we should try to go see her." Kris shot up from the bed at his words.

"Go see her? The mother that abandoned us?" She gaped. "Sounds like fun. But what about, I don't know school. Or the police, or even survival?" She threw her hands up. "not to mention we don't have a car, and only have, what, $1,000 of bonds to our name?"

"It'll be fine. But I just think we should do this, we can explain ourselves after all this is over," He smiled at her excitedly, waving away her doubts.

"One, you're insane. And two, this won't actually work, we'll only get sent to juvenile hall of something," Kris explained, trying to ignore her own doubts and reservations on the issue. "And lastly, There is no such thing as magic, and there is no organization out to get us, now then, how about we just go to Starbucks for some hot chocolate and calm down okay?" Shaun pouted at his sisters lack of imagination.

"But I know it's real, mom said so," He sighed, getting off the bed to allow her to get up.

"Well my mom said a lot of things, like we would always be together, but that didn't exactly turn out now did it?" She sighed at his pitiful expression. "Listen, let's just go take a walk, it might help."

They lived in a small town in California. The town was barely populated and a few blocks away from their home. The siblings lived near an abandoned street, only they used the shortcut through the bundle of shut down stores that led them towards the town.

* * *

"So then she said, the cupcake was on your chair," Kris snickered, "But the kid still sat down."

"Hey don't make fun of people!" Shaun scolded.

"OH come on, you know it was funny!" Kris snickered and soon Shaun was laughing along with her.

"Hey, have you felt like we've been watched this entire time?" Kris whispered to Shaun. He gave her a quizzical look before glancing behind him inconspicuously. He could have sworn he just saw a shadow move.

"I don't know," He shrugged as they walked into the orphanage. The house was silent, which immediately set them off. It was never silent in the house. Auntie ALWAYS had the tv on. Kris expected Ms. Renard to be at the front door, scolding them like she usually would for leaving without telling her. So, where was she? After glancing around in confusion, Kris began to walk towards her office after hearing a quiet voice. She peeked into the office to see Ms. Renard talking to someone on the phone.

"She got into a fight today, one of the workers meant to look over them said he saw something odd. There has been more and more cases regarding them that are rather unusual. I think the plan has worked and they're beginning to awaken their abilities. We need to capture them before they utilize their abilities and learn how to use them against us." She nodded her head enthusiastically.

"I think that's the best option as well. They're more powerful together, we're gonna have to break the little Nightingale family up. Send them to separate facilities to test on. That's probably for the best," She nodded once more. "Of course, we should do this immediately. The sooner the better," She laughed to herself lightly as Kris backed away with wide eyes. What was she talking about? She looked over to her twin whose eyes were as wide as her own. She motioned for him to back up as the two walked away.

"Okay, if that wasn't proof then-" Shaun began, speaking quickly, his words rushed and panicked.

"It could be anyone," Kris shook her head, none of this could be real. It just wasn't true. Shaun rolled his eyes, grabbing her shoulders.

"Come on, you know that it's at least a little suspicious!" He looked deep in her eyes. "Are you gonna let them seperate us?" She looked up in defiance and grabbed Ms. Renards keys.

"Just to be sure, we'll pack and get ready to run if we need to. But until someone makes a grab for us, we're staying," She said, her hand on her hip defiantly.

She grabbed their duffel bags they kept in their closet. They scrambled around the room, trying to shove as much clothes in the bag while Kris ran to the kitchen, gathering snacks.

"Got everything?" Shaun called out, wincing from stubbing his toe. She held up a first aid kit, throwing it towards him to put in the bag.

"Yeah I've got everything together, now don't forget to grab the letters and journal," Kris shouted at them, hiding her bag under the bed.

"And now?" Shaun asked, putting his bag under the bed as well.

"Now we wait," Kris shrugged, sitting on the bed. "We'll stay awake tonight just in case." Shaun nodded, his hand shaking from his adrenaline rush.

* * *

8 a.m.

"Nothing," Kris sighed, rubbing at her eyes. She was exhausted, no sleep tends to do that to you every now and then you know?

"Okay, I guess I was wrong," Shaun sighed, lying down on his bed, setting his DS down. "Happy Saturday by the way. I'm guessing we're gonna be spending most of the day sleeping." He chuckled setting the pillow over his eyes. The twins jolted up at the sound of knocking on their door. No one ever came to get them this early on a saturday. They were alerted, who knew who this could be? They opened it to see a small, smiling woman.

"Who are you?" Kris growled out, glaring at the smiling woman. She was used to seeing a fake smile, and that was most definitely, a fake smile.

"Oh yes, sorry," She smiled. "I'm with social services, I'm here to take Shaun." Kris snarled out her.

"Excuse me?" She blocked the door with her body.

"I'm sorry, I thought they already informed you. Your aunt is short on money and figured it would be best to send Shaun to a home. I'm just taking him to meet a couple looking to adopt him," She smiled, trying to peer into the room.

"He's not up for adoption, and that's final," Kris took a threatening step towards the woman.

"Sorry about this," She smiled, pulling out a taser and zapping Kris with it. She staggered back in shock, looking at the woman in shock. She just tried to taser her! And how come she didn't feel anything? The social worker looked up in shock, looking at the taser. Was it broken?

"Oh, you'll definitely be sorry," Kris growled, the woman taking a deep gulp as Kris threw a quick jab towards her face. "Okay, grab the bags." Kris shouted. "whether this whole power thing is real or not, I'm most definitely not gonna stay in this place. Let's go!" After getting all their bags tied down to them they headed out the door, getting ready to leave their aunts place, hopefully for good. They stopped mid run when they noticed their Aunt talking to a man in a black and white suit.

"where do you think you are going!" The woman shouted once she noticed the two. "Where do you think you're going? Get in my office now! You two are permanently ground-" She was cut off when Kris promptly punched her in the face. The older woman dropped to floor without another word uttered from those thin lips of hers.

"Payback," Kris chuckled darkly. They turned around to see a large, brute looking man, hovering over the family.

"Where will we go?" Shaun whispered to his sister in fear.

"Away from here," Kris growled, pulling out a pair of scissors. "Now back off," She snarled, her eyes narrowing at the man. He backed up in surprise, his hands held up, he was at her mercy.

"Just get lost," Shaun barked, a gust of energy shooting out of him and throwing the large man up against the wall. "Let's go quickly!" He shouted, grabbing Kris's hand, looking back at the man knocked out on the floor in fear. What in the world was that?! Ms. Renard parked the mini van in the back, not wanting others to think she was home. She did hate talking to others. But her hatred towards other people would be their salvation. They took the back road, rejoicing when they noticed that the lunatics hadn't known about them.

And just like that the twins sped off in a stolen car, a shady address, and a wounded toe towards Phoenix, Arizona. Not even sure whether or not it was the right place to head. From their sunny California to the dry desert of Arizona. Yeah, this was gonna be a fun car ride. Call it a feeling.

* * *

From Santa Clarita to Phoenix it was a 7 hour drive. And Kris decided she would try to entertain herself during the boring car ride. She stared at her hands, letting out a deep breath. Could magic be real? Well, she'd only know if she tried I suppose. She imagined electricity bouncing around her hands and running up her arms. She opened her eyes as she heard her brother gasp. She looked down to see she had, in fact, summoned a small bright blue light in her palm.

"So it's all true," he said in hushed surprise. It disappeared as soon as she lost her concentration though. They were stopped outside a Arby's in order to grab a snack. They had started driving at 8 p.m. And drove for 5 hours already. They had decided to sleep in the parking lot before departing for their destination early in the morning.

"it seems so," She panted, rubbing at the perspiration on her brow. She was surprised to see how much it took out of her.

"So tell me about the letters," Kris asked, watching her brother wrap his arm again. They had stopped for some more bandages, making sure to avoid looking at any cameras.

"Well, I only read a little. It's more like a book than a letter," He noticed her glancing at him in confusion. "It mentions something about wizards or elemental users, at least, that's what she calls them," Kris rubbed her forehead, she was mentally exhausted. "I guess you have electricity-"

"Obviously," Kris snorted, stretching out her arms and setting her legs on the steering wheel. She was tired of feeling so cramped in the small Mini van. Not like she would audibly complain though.

"And I have wind," Shaun rolled his eyes. "Which so isn't as cool. It's not nearly as manly," he mumbled under his breath.

"Only you," she laughed, "Would be more worried that your power isn't manly enough rather than the fact that you even have magic." He shrugged at her.

"It's no fair, you can zap someone and all I can do is blow a terrible gust of wind on them," he added a eery "oh" for effect.

"I don't want it though..." She mumbled.

"Kris..." Shaun stared at her, sitting up from the back.

"No Shaun. It's just not fair. We've gone through so much shit in our lives. Can't we at least be normal human beings?" She shook her head.

"Things will be fine, trust me," Shaun smiled unconvincingly, looking down.

"I can only hope so..." She looked at him. "We'll make it." She pulled her pillow lower on her head. "I'll make sure that we do." She replied defiantly looking up at the stars before slowly closing her eyes.

* * *

"We can't let you guys in," the hospital's orderly said, crossing his arms. He was a chubby man, balding and with a nonchalant expression. His chins flubbed out as he talked, and he held a expression that just screamed that he was looking down on them. "Family or not, you need to make a appointment." The twins looked at one another in shock. They just ran away from their home, their lives, there was no way they weren't getting in.

"Please?" Kris begged, her eyes lowering seductivley as she tugged her tank top down lower.

"U-um, regulation is regulation," He blushed just as she zapped him with the taser she took from the woman before. Kris hopped over the desk to look at the list of patients.

"Nightingale- Room 120." Kris dragged her duffel bag behind her, as she grabbed the mans' white coat. They needed to be careful, and as a precaution decided to bring the bags.

They knew that Arizona was hot, but they hadn't expected 110 degrees. Even inside the building they were still panting like dogs.

"here it is," Shaun pulled them over to the door. Hitting the unlock button to walk in. "Ready?" He asked. The twins held hands with one another, taking a deep gulp as they stared at the wooden door.

"Of course," Kris stuttered as she slowly slid the door open.

"Welcome my children," came the sweet lull of their mothers voice. Her long blonde hair seemed to string down the bed endlessly and her bright green eyes seemed to scan her children for scrapes and bruises as they entered the hospital room. The room was a bland white, everything was white. All there was in the room was the bed she was lying in, a white table by the bed and a ugly eggplant colored couch. The linoleum floor squeaked under their feet as they shuffled into the room. "I was just thinking about you two," She smiled, her smile unhinged as she motioned to them to move closer.

"I want some answers. NOW," Kris demanded, staying far away from the woman she had called her mother.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten?" Her eyebrows crinkled in frustration at the idea. The twins blank expressions seemed to confirm her worries and she let out a pained sigh. "What do you want to know?" She asked.

"Why you ran away for one!" Kris bit back a sob.

"I never ran away," She shook her head, looking up at her daughter. "I was taken away after I killed your step father."

"Well I guess that makes sense," Shaun whispered to her.

"Not because I murdered him, but because I knew that he was part of the organization. I had to let everyone know their plans but they caught me and took you two away before I could make a run for it. If only I had paid more attention..." She sighed.

"w-well. How have you been?" Shaun asked awkwardly, hoping to fix the tension in the air.

"Well the food here is terrible," Her mother joked back. "I was wondering when you would start looking for me," She chuckled, looking up at her kids.

"Well we kinda thought you were dead," Shaun rubbed the back of his head. Surprised at how frail their mother looked. Last time they had seen her, she was her usual beautiful self, strong and healthy. Now she just looked pasty, thin, and sickly. It was absolutely wrong to see her like this.

"Yes, I figured they would make up some lie like that," She sighed, playing with her thinning hair. She stared at the chunk of hair that came out in her hands, giving it a peculiar stare. "I've grown too weak to hold back your powers. I assume that's why you've come to search for me." They were guilty as charged. Kris looked down at the ground in shame. They should have double checked to make sure their mother was dead or that she couldn't have been found. They only second guessed it when they were in danger. What selfish children they were. "So you kids must be what, 17 now?" She asked, smiling at her children. They nodded.

"Can you tell us more about the organization?" Shaun asked, clearing his throat as he noticed Kris shifting uncomfortably. "What's going on exactly?"

"Well I'll tell you this much. I've been holding back your powers. That's why you've probably been able to use them all of a sudden," She continued after seeing their shocked faces. "The organization already had you, but you're no good to them if your powers aren't activated. They finally noticed that I'm the reason your powers weren't activated," She chuckled to herself, her voice hoarse yet clear. "So they began to poison me. I probably only have a day or so left," She shrugged as though it wasn't a big deal.

"We need to take you with us then," Kris shouted, trying to take out her iv, her expression frantic.

"Please, I'd only drag you down," she held up her hand up for her daughter to stop. She could see the aging spots on her wrist. But she was only 40?

"So what? You just expect us to lose our mother again?" Kris shouted at her, all that pent up anger building over the years, finally coming out. "What are you expecting from me?" She growled, grabbing mother's shoulders in anger.

"Kris," She sighed, shaking her head. Her hand grabbed Kris's, pulling her closer. Her big blue eyes looked up at her green ones and Kris could see all the wrinkles by her eyes. She was old. "I know things have been tough on you. But you are strong, you always have been. I need you to stay strong for yourself, for your family," she motioned towards her twin. Kris let out a muffled cry, wiping away a stray tear quickly as she stepped away from her mother. "You two, you're gonna be running for the rest of your lives probably. But you must be smart, you were always smart." She smiled at them lovingly, struggling to touch Shaun's face. "You look just like your father. Before everything went wrong, it was like I woke up to him still. You truly look just like him," She sighed sadly. "In any case," She cleared her throat, trying to get back on topic, "you need to leave this place immediately, this is gonna be the first place they'll look for you, even you two can't hold them back." She smiled at them. "Before I forget, you two, have something even more special about you. If only I had noticed earlier, the terrible things they did to you," She began to tear up. "I didn't know what he was doing to you, I swear!" She shouted frantically, grabbing her daughter's arm and holding onto it tightly.

"What are you talking about?" Kris asked, her voice stern as she stared at her mother, wincing as her nails dug into her wrist.

"They experimented on you, such horrible things...You have something evil in you, but I only found out when looking through your step fathers computer. Well, that's when I killed him," She shook her head, laughing dryly, "But it was too late anyways. You two, have a terrible path ahead of you that'll be filled with loneliness and pain. And i'm so sorry, I truly am. You need to simply keep traveling, travel as far as you can. There are a few safe areas around the country that haven't been infiltrated by them. Maybe you can settle down there, I don't know, I'm-" She began to cough up blood. "Damn, not yet, they can't take control of me yet," her eyes began to flutter her pupils wide in fear. "Run," She whispered, her eyes slowly closing. A loud explosion was heard from outside and the two ran to the window to see a horrifying sight. There, in the middle of the parking lot where they had parked the minivan was replaced by flames.

"My pickachu blanket!" Shaun shouted, clawing at the window in anger. Shaun's grip on the duffel bags tightened and he pulled out the gun his sister had given him before they entered the building. His hands tightened and tugged at his shirt."They'll pay," he mumbled under his breath. Kris only rolled her eyes, she could feel the adrenaline rush in her veins.

"We need to get out of here now," She turned to them, throwing the bag over shoulder once more. They all looked back at their mother longingly. Blood was dripping from her nose and she appeared green, it wasn't their mother anymore. "We'll come back for you," Kris yelled out at her before running out of the room.

"Let's take the stairs," Kris shouted, running down to the basement where the parking lot was. There were two guys looking for them though. "Shit," She cursed under her breath. She got up, shooting the taser at one of them while Shaun sent a terrifying punch to the others face.

"Let's do this car!" Shaun shouted, pointing at a small Volkswagen bug. Kris set her hand on the door, unlocking it by short circuiting the car door.

"Get in," was all she said and they were in the car, buckled up and everything. She put the car in reverse, running into one of the guys in the black and white uniform. "Sorry," She laughed, speeding off. They ducked as he shot at the back in the car, damaging the back window. They passed the main road, ducking as shots were fired at them. Kris drifted the car, trying to escape their bullets. They could hear yelling as they scrambled to their cars to chase after them.

"Come on!" Shaun shouted aloud in aggravation. "Why does it always have to be guns?!" He exclaimed, looking over at his sister. Kris snickered as she cut off a few cars to get to the highway, going 90 mph already.

"Be on the look out for cops," Kris shouted at her brother, maneuvering around cars, ignoring the honking cars and the occasional curse. They got a good 30 miles before the car promptly shut down. Smoke was pouring out of the back of the car. The family tiredly walked out of the car to stare at the trunk, where the engine was held. "They shot the engine," He growled aloud, kicking the car in aggravation. Coughing as he inhaled the smoke. As soon as he kicked it, the back of the car erupted in flames.

"Nice going," Kris scoffed, grabbing the bags out of the car. She looked in the dashboard, grinning when she found a map. "Only Volkswagen bugs would have maps," She chuckled. "It says there is a train station just a few miles ahead, maybe we can get on," Kris suggested, grabbing her bag. "Looks like we might be stuck running for awhile."

"Well this'll be fun," Shaun grumbled, the two walking down the highway hand in hand, unsure exactly where they were going or what the future held in store for them.

* * *

Me- So what do you think? Interesting? Yes? No? Maybe if I added some dragons?! Don't forget to review guys, it helps a lot :D I hope you enjoyed my story though :3


	2. Chapter 2: Struggling

"Life equals running and when we stop running maybe that's how we'll know life is finally finished."  
― Patrick Ness, The Knife of Never Letting Go

* * *

Chapter 2: Stuggling

* * *

"So where are we going?" Shaun asked, throwing a rubber ball up against the metal box car. The loud bumping of the train shook the car, in a mildly annoying way. The landscape was passing the train quickly, the workers unaware of the children hiding inside it. He glanced over to his sister who was looking over maps and comparing them to their mothers journal. She was wearing a black t-shirt with some nonsense on it, and dark green shorts. She claimed that her outfit was to blend in like the guys outfits in the military. More like she didn't want to sweat in the Texas heat by wearing jeans. He let out a agitated sigh at the sight of his sister, still looking at the maps. "you've been looking at those papers nonstop, why not give it a break?" She looked up for a second only to glare at him, her green eyes icy with determination and aggravation.

"I'll 'give it a break' when we're safe," She snarled, looking back at the papers. "There's a lot of places that we can go that are safe zones as mom puts it," She held up the map in the journal. Her eyes wavered and she turned to look out a slit in the box car.

"I know, I read it first," He mumbled under his breath. "What about it?" He asked, returning to playing with his ball.

"Well I think we should travel to D.C," She shrugged, noticing the dirt smudges on Shaun's cheek.

"Are you serious?" He gaped, looking at his sister in shock. Was she insane? Why in the world would they want to go to the headquarters of evilness, aka, the home of politics. "That's almost 2500 miles away!" He shook his head. That too. "It could take weeks till we get there. Who knows how long with the method of travel we've taken."

"Exactly, they won't expect us to try to get that far so quickly," She grinned, turning to her brother, her eyes twinkling with deviousness. She tugged at her long hair, maybe she should cut it? It was getting rather greasy lately. She pinched herself, stop being so A.D.D., she scolded. "The next train stop should be in Jacksonville. We can stop there for food and try to find a place to wash up," Kris put the journal down, looking up at the roof of the rusting box car. She held up her hand, staring at the contrast of the red tinged roof and her chipped and bloody nails.

"Are you sure about this?" Shaun asked, his tone serious.

"Yeah, I'm sure about this," Kris nodded enthusiastically, pulling her laptop out. She began to type away, creating programs and designing their fake papers. She had to make sure they could start over in life. "You know, the journal said something about other creatures out there...Do you think they really exist?" She asked aloud, looking up at her brother, he hadn't even looked at her while she talked. Just playing with that damned rubber ball of his. She wondered if she could make it explode with her so called powers...

"You seriously brought that?" Shaun raised a eyebrow at her, catching the ball in order to give his sister a incredulous look at the computer.

"I'm a hacker. What am I without my computer?" She bit on her lip in annoyance. "You brought your Shakespeare books." She cursed when she tasted the odd metallic taste of blood in mouth, she bit down too hard.

"t-that's different," He blushed looking away from her. He pushed the Shakespeare book behind him nonchalantly, trying to hide it. He glanced around the boxcar, trying to look inconspicuous.

"But what do you think of my question?" She sighed in annoyance.

"I don't know," He hesitated. "I suppose there must be other creature out there..." He sighed, looking around the boxcar. It was filled with boxes of juice boxes, much to Kris's approval. But seeing as though there wasn't a bathroom in the boxcar, Kris was advised not to drink a lot.

"Just practice your 'magical abilities' Shaun, we might need them," Kris sighed sadly. What did they do to deserve a life like this? Nothing like living a life on the run Kris thought bitterly. "If I can get a hold of a printer, I can make us some fake documents. We can start a new life," Kris offered. Turning her head quickly as she heard a rustling noise. Another noise, and a rat scurried by. "gross," She glared at the thing, trying to zap it. Not like she could use her 'magic' that well anyways. Even if she tried to summon the bright lights, they wouldn't always appear. And when they did, they weren't that strong while other times it was too much.

"Hey, cut it out," Shaun whined, throwing a peanut shell at her. They adorned the floor of the cab so there plenty to use as weapons.

"It's a rat," She said, her expression dead-panned, throwing a peanut right back at him. The cab had most likely been used by other hobos before there time. Kris couldn't help but wonder if throwing the peanut shells were sanitary.

"It's still a living thing," He pouted, the animal had long since fled. She rolled her eyes at him, those green eyes of hers tired and annoyed.

"Whatever, start practicing will you," She nudged him with her foot, going back to typing on the computer.

"Fine," he sighed, concentrating on his baseball, imagining it floating in the air. He opened his eyes to see it was, in fact, floating. He let out a breath of relief and it suddenly went flying and smacked into the side of the boxcar, bouncing back to hit him in the gut. "Damnit!" He shouted, throwing the ball back at the wall. His eyes shined a bright yellow and as soon as the ball came back into his hands, got crushed immediately. Kris looked at him in shock.

"Um, how in the world did you do that?" Kris gaped, staring at her brother with wide green eyes. The sleep deprivation evident in her pale face and tired eyes. She was looking at her brother in shock, how was that even possible? It was rubber!

"I-I dunno," he looked just as shocked as she did. He looked at her, his eyebrows furrowed. "Do you think it had to do with that whole dark thing mom was talking about?"

"What? Like a demon? Demons don't exist, let alone in us. We aren't bad people," She said, her tone angry, "Mom was probably just a bit hallucinatory."

"But she was right about everything else, what says she isn't right about that?" He asked, tugging on her arm. He was trying to get her to look at his face, but she bluntly ignored looking at him.

"Because I said so!" She shouted, fear in her eyes as tears welled up in them. Her head whipped to the side to stare into those big blue eyes of his."Because I said so," She gripped his shoulders tightly, their eyes locking with one another. He hadn't even thought about her being scared about all of this. She was always the tough one so he just thought he could rely on her completely.

"I'm sorry," He breathed out, allowing her to hug him to her tightly. He looked down at the chipping floor in shame, he hadn't even had the courtesy to think about how his own sister felt about all of this. She bit down a sob, shaking her head.

"This is all just way too much. Let's get settled in with the whole running away from an evil organization and the fact that magic exists before we go roaming in more uncharted territory, okay? Hell, if all if that wasn't enough, how about the fact that we just ran away from everything we ever knew and we're kinda screwed," She pulled away from him, looking into his eyes. "Or the fact that we're about to be seniors, and are whole life ahead of us that we had planned might be ruined now."

"Okay," he nodded, smiling kindly at her, the two holding hands. "How much longer to Jacksonville?" He asked, his voice hoarse from lack of water as he tried to divert her worried thoughts.

"A few hours," She whispered back, looking at the trees passing them by through a small slit in the door. "Just a few more hours," She mumbled, slowly drifting off to sleep. It was the first time she had finally been able to sleep in the past 72 hours. And she of all people deserved it.

* * *

A few hours later Kris was awaken by a cool hand on her shoulder. Her whole body jolted in shock, shooting up from her position. She charged her hand to attack her pursuer, only to see the peeved smile from her younger brother.

"Shaun," She whispered under her breath, looking at her surroundings. The charged electricity slowly disintegrated in the air as she calmed. They were still in the musky old box car. But they weren't sliding around, or bumping into boxes anymore. It was completely still. Everything seemed like it was frozen in place, if only life were so kind, Kris thought to herself sadly.

"We just stopped, I think we're in Jacksonville. Didn't you say you wanted to get off?" He asked, grabbing her hand, and helping her stand. She let out a groan as her knee caps popped, her neck cracking as she rolled it. Her entire body was tensed and sore from the awkward way she had slept.

"Yeah, make sure we have all our stuff before we leave," Kris said, looking outside, rolling her shoulder. She was temporary blinded by the bright light. She looked down at her watch, it was only 1 p.m. What they found outside that box car was a thick corn meadow beyond the gated area and a small town beyond that. Tall grass surrounded the train and it's station. "Hey, I see a school. That will most likely be our best place to get to for now,"She pointed at the outskirt of the town, the tall building had to be a school. If not, she was sure they could take advantage of it either way.

"We better go before one of the cops spot us. I noticed we passed a police car when we entered the station," Shaun whispered, pushing the tall grass out of the way. They stared at the metal fence in their way. Shaun looked over at Kris warily. Kris's hands immediately darted out towards it, feeling multiple bolts of electricity run through her entire body. But it wasn't painful, if anything, if felt like she was recharging. She still couldn't get over this whole, 'magic was real' thing. She kept getting the feeling she might wake up from a terribly odd dream.

"That was oddly comfortable," She chuckled to herself, helping Hana over the fence before hopping it herself. "Now how about heading to school?" She wiggled her eyebrows, holding up a bottle of soap. "You need it."

"Hey, you're no better," Shaun complained, pointing at her accusingly as they began to walk through the corn field. The tall yellow plants smelled rather sweet under the hot sun. She sniffed herself in shock at her brothers comment.

"But at least I've been using deodorant," She muttered as they walked past a elderly couple, finally making it past the corn fields and into the town. Shaun didn't have a retort to that one, so he resorted to looking at the sky in annoyance. He stared at the swirl of the large white puffy clouds, feeling immediately relaxed as he looked the azure sky. They walked down a few streets, the winding roads confusing the family. It wasn't until they spotted a older couple did they think they were going to make it out of the maze. "Excuse me, where is the school?" Kris asked sweetly, pushing back her bangs.

"T-that way," The older man pointed to his right. "Just down the street." She thanked him, heading in the direction. The elder couple looked back at the dirty kids in shock. "Probably playing hookie," He sneered, grabbing his wife's hand.

"Kids these days," the older woman replied with annoyance, rolling her eyes as they rounded the corner.

* * *

"Hey, there's a door over here," Kris whispered, pointing at the back entrance and tugging on the door. The twins peered into the room. They were in the gym room. The basketball courts and the wood floor being a clear giveaway. "Most gyms have showers so lets get in there," She grinned, walking into the empty gym. She looked behind her to see the gym class running laps around the track field, the gym teacher yelling at them in annoyance.

"Man, I'd hate to have outdoor gym in this weather," Shaun remarked, shaking his head in remorse for the kids. He squinted his eyes as he noticed a small girl picking up some trash that had been knocked over from a trash can. The kids seemed to try and stay as far away from her as possible."I'm gonna go in the boys locker, you gonna be fine by yourself?" He asked, scratching at his hair and shaking his head, trying to forget about the image of the girl. His hair was rather dirty and far too itchy for his likings he reminded himself, anything to get his attention back on the important things. Kris laughed at his worried expression before walking away.

"I'm more worried about you honestly, don't get caught," she winked, walking towards the girls locker room on the other end of the room. Once she got to the room, she was met by a office, a group of lockers, a couple of bathroom stalls, and thank the spirits, showers. "Thank the doctor," She mumbled under her breath, snickering at her own doctor who joke. Quickly and rather efficiently she began stripping her clothes off as she headed towards the showers. They were in the back, secluded from the other areas. Lucky for them. She set her bags outside the shower, grabbing some poor girls towel that was left outside her locker. "Mine now," Kris cheered, pulling out her shampoo, condition, and soap. She let out a screech of detest as the cold water hit her naked body, giggling at the feel of water pushing up against them though. She stood away from the water for a minute before taking a cautious step towards the water. Letting out a relieved sigh at the warm water. She noticed she had been playing in the water for too long when the cold water began to burn her arm. Kris quickly changed and began to loot around bags for money. Now she was against stealing completely, but they weren't in the position to be thinking about morals. As soon as she gathered as much money as she could, she stapped her bag over her shoulder once more. She wore a pair of green shorts and a grey t-shirt. Nothing fancy. She decided to put on some eyeliner after finding it lying by one of the sinks. She thanked whoever carelessly left their makeup lying around and exited the locker.

"I was wondering when you would come out," Shaun joked, sitting outside the door, shocking Kris and making her jump at the sound of his voice. "Hey, I was thinking that we might be able to get into the lunch room and score some free food," he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Lunch is over dimwit," Kris sighed. "It's already 2:30, school should be ready to get out in 10 or so minutes. I say we stay in the locker rooms and head out with everyone else to not seem suspicious. We can meet up at the front doors of the school." Shaun pouted.

"If you say so," he sighed, rubbing his tummy with a pout. "I'm so hungry though." He let an annoyed whine before walking away.

"There should be food in some of the kids back packs, just eat that for now. I found some cash that we can use for dinner tonight," She dangled the wad of cash in front of his face.

"Damn, I didn't think about that," he pouted, thinking about which bag would have food.

"That's because you're too nice," she stuck her tongue out at him playfully before walking back into the girls locker room. She could here him muttering about being a bad boy as well before the door closed and blocked out all sound. The two hid in the shower rooms as a group of girls walked into the locker room. They could hear screaming and moaning, the kids complaining about P.E. You think P.E. Is bad? Try living my life, Kris thought bitterly, rolling her eyes at the teenagers.

"There's only two more minutes before the bell rings," one of them shouted.

"Jeez, Mr. Snead never gives us enough time to get changed," another girl growled, putting on her t-shirt and applying a shade of gloss.

"hey, I'm missing 10 bucks," one of them shouted.

"Who cares? You're a rich kid aren't you, just get some more money from daddy," someone sneered. Sorry, Kris inwardly apologized, she didn't like having to steal.

"Whatever," the girl growled out in annoyance, biting her tongue. The bell rang out loudly.

"Saved by the bell," Kris chuckled lightly, allowing the students to head out first before slowly joining them. No one seemed to notice them, good. There was a girl right in front of them that caught Kris's eye though.

She had a pretty round face and a blatantly shy expression. Her long dark brown hair appeared almost black and her bangs went past her left eyebrow to cover her right eye, a flower shaped bow on the side of her head. Her eyes were almond shaped and a light brown that clashed with her dark hair. Her skin was a a warm brown and her lips were large and pouting. She looked a little awkward surrounded by all the talking girls, but somehow she caught Kris's eye. She wore a simple orange t-shirt and dark blue jeans. She stopped suddenly though, causing Kris to bump into her roughly, taking a few steps back in surprise.

"I-i'm so sorry," the small girl stuttered, her face turning red. An expression of fear on her face as she looked up at Kris.

"Don't worry about it," She smiled, patting her shoulder.

"A-are you new here?" She asked, looking up at Kris in confusion. She could've sworn she'd never seen her in her class before...

"Yes, we were touring the school," She laughed nervously.

"Well where are you going now?" She asked, looking off to the side. "Sorry if that's too personal." Something about this girl just made her more and more curious though.

"Um, to meet my twin outside the school. Feel free to walk with me," She smiled kindly, allowing the shy girl to follow her. The two walked in a comfortable silence. It was like walking with a old friend, the shy girl could only smile at the ground.

"Hey where have you been?" Shaun called out for the girls, running over to the group. His eyes met the shy girl and all he could do was gape at her like a fish. "Um, h-hi," he blushed, blatantly staring at the girl.

"Sorry, I ran into your sister and tagged along by my own accord," the girl blushed, shakily pushing back a strand of her long black hair.

"I never got your name by the way?" Kris asked, smirking at her brothers reaction. Oh, he was so interested in her.

"I'm Sage, i'm a junior at the school," She smiled brightly, easily blowing the twins back. There was a pause, slightly confused but mostly familiar for Shaun. It was like the two had known each other all their lives, there was something about this girl. A image flashed before his eyes, the two of them as children, playing in a poorly made playpin. The two were giggling together, holding hands a smiling brightly. His eyes darted to her hand as it ran though her hair. His eyes averted quickly. _What was that just now?_ He wondered to himself. It was like their meeting was inevitable, falling into some sort of whimsical, nostalgic whirlwind. This was the most extreme case of infatuation he had ever gotten. This woman had so easily snatched his heart, just by a smile.

Oh no. Kris stared at her brother in shock. She knew that reaction of Shauns. He gave a small grin, his cheeks pink, and scratched the back of his head. That was the expression he got when he found something he was really interested in. It was one thing for him to like a girl, another to go and to get a crush on her. And already he had one, she could tell. They were twins, you don't doubt the twin telepathy guys.

"I'm Shaun," he said aloud, his eyes widening in shock at the fact that he had just revealed his real name. He glanced at his sister with apologetic eyes, quickly looking back at the Hispanic woman. She was a small woman. Only 5' 1" probably. And damnit, she was just his type. Kris made a move to punch him, hopefully to snap him back to reality but he quickly took a step closer to her, dodging his sisters attack. "And where might you be heading? I'd love to walk you home." She scoffed at his behavior, she must have really interested him because he most certainly was not bold. He was mesmerized by her silent beauty, and that smile, was enough to catch his heart by a string. He was positive she was the girl he saw before, picking up the trash. Kris let out a sigh at her lovesick brother, this might take a while. Her eyes caught a black violin case strapped to the back of a tall man and couldn't help her following eyes. Who was that? And why did he seem so familiar? She took a step to walk towards him before sage's voice snapped her back to reality.

"M-me?" She blushed, fear in her eyes as she stared up at him. "I don't think you want to get caught walking beside me." Her eyes darted around the school campus in worry.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, reaching to set a hand on her shoulder, but quickly holding back before being noticed. He blushed at his bold actions, what was he doing?

"Because-" She flinched as something smacked up against her head and she let out a cry of pain.

"Move it Samara, careful if you talk to her you'll die in seven days," The boy chuckled, laughing with his group of friends. Wiggling his hands as though he was running away from a ghost.

"Seven days," one of the boys whispered loudly, his voice pitched high to add a eery effect.

"What was that," Shaun sneered, his eyes glazing over with that yellow hue of his. He moved to address the boys...with his fists.

"Don't worry about it," She grabbed his arm, quickly withdrawing it with a blush on her cheeks. "As you can see, if you're gonna be moving in here, it's best to avoid me."

"No thanks, I could never leave such a pretty girl to walk home by herself," he smiled, returning by her side. "So, if it's not too much, how about I walk you home?"

"O-okay then," She looked away in shock, how unusual for her. Why was she accepting his offer so easily? She didn't even know the guy, not to mention she was never this bold. But something about this family, just seemed so familiar. The group began to walk towards her house. And then the two began to talk, they had way too many things in common for Kris to enjoy the conversation.

"So what brings you guys here?" Sage asked, the twins looking at one another in anticipation.

"We heard that there is a good...cheer squad out here," Kris covered, inwardly smacking her forehead.

"Oh yes. We have a rather good one. Though..." Sage hesitated. "You don't seem like the cheer leading type..."

"Well, you never know unless you try," Kris laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of her head. The group passed brick buildings, covered with moss and a old woman sputtering nonsense. Her wrinkles deep and her eyes, mad. They walked past her without a second glance, in fear that she might call out to them. Stray trash was scattered among the pitch black cement floor. Red rimmed windows plastered among the walls with clothes hanging upon thin wires taped above the unknown citizen's windows. They were heading in towards the poorer area of the town. You could simply tell by the depressed expressions of the people they passed. They were walking past the town by now, walking towards an abandoned area. Shaun managed to tear his eyes away from Sage to see a photo a lost little girl. Sage was giving scraps of bread to the begging dogs when Shaun's voice shocked her and made her turn around quickly.

"Poor thing," he mumbled, motioning towards the picture at Sage's confused expression. She nodded in remorse.

"A lot of people seem to go missing here," She sighed, pointing to a small restaurant. "they have really good burritos." She looked up at them shyly. "Just in case you guys are hungry..." She shifted from foot to foot.

"I'm starving!" Kris shouted, grabbing the two and walking into the resteraunt.

* * *

"She's such a sweet girl!" Kris giggled as they walked back to the school to rest.

"Wasn't she," Shaun breathed out dreamily.

"Wow, lover boy powers-ACTIVATED," She joked, throwing a pebble at him before picking the lock to the gym.

* * *

"Kristal," Came a soft whisper in her ears, making her steps waver. Kris blinked her bright moss colored eyes open to see she was once again standing in a meadow of flowers. The bright red tulips sprouting from the soft sand.

"Who is it?" Kris asked, surprised her voice had come out so steady. She began to walk through the meadow, enjoying the feeling of the sand between her toes. And there he was again. The tall man was sitting in the meadow, reading some book. He looked the same as he had the last time she dreamed of him. Only this time he wore glasses, the thick black rims obscuring his beautiful face. "Who are you?" She asked, her voice all but a whisper being carried by the flowing wind. He only smiled, his eyes still staring at the book. "Hey, answer me!" She growled out, stomping up to him. As soon as she touched his shoulder though, he turned to dust and everything around her slowly but surely began to disintegrate. What was up with her having the same dream?

* * *

Kris let out a yawn as she awoke. Her dream peeved her out and she wasn't able to fall back asleep. It was 5 a.m. Wonderful. In all honesty they should start getting ready, students should be arriving here soon for sports practice or something. She rolled around to smack Shaun roughly against the back.

"Get up, we need to shower, get dressed, and eat if we're gonna head out soon," Kris yawned.

"About that...I was thinking we should stay here for a bit longer," Shaun mumbled.

"What?" Kris shot up. "Why would we do that?" Of course, she already knew the answer to _that_ one.

"Oh come on, give me a break. We've been traveling non-stop for almost 4 days. What's it gonna hurt if we take a small detour. Besides, we still need to finish out our junior year..." He bargained. Kris let out a sigh, she also wanted to stay a bit longer. Her dreams about that boy was becoming more and more vivid and she couldn't help but remember the boy from yesterday.

"I guess you have a good point there..." Kris mumbled, standing up to stretch. "But if I start to feel even slightly like we're in danger, we're leaving...okay?" She wagged a finger at him.

"Of course, captain!" He saluted, jumping up with a wild grin on his face.

"Well then...we better go sign up then..." She smiled with twinkle in her eyes.

* * *

"Sage!" Shaun shouted, running towards the girl he had met yesterday.

"S-shaun," She blushed with a smile.

"It's good to see you again," Kris waved towards the shy girl.

"Y-you too," Sage nodded, joining the twins little group. The three walked into the school together. Kris laughed at a joke Shaun made, tugging on his arm as they walked through the crowd. _  
_

* * *

The three walked back to her house once again, talking and joking with one another. The three made a good pair, it was like they had been together all their lives. Sage looked up mid-sentence and let out a terrified shriek. Just as the sound reached their ears, a small girl with rugged black hair and panicked blue eyes turned into the alley way the group was walking through. Her eyes met Sage's momentarily and in a blink of an eye, she went through her. Sage stared at her in pure horror. Rather, there wasn't anything particularly wrong with the girl, just the fact that there was a knife sticking out of the side of her head.

"T-the missing girl is right there!" She shouted in surprise, pointing towards a group of boxes and pushing herself up against the wall in fear. "Oh god I think she's dead," She cried out, tears falling down her face.

"What are you talking about?" Shaun asked, grabbing ahold of her wrist. "What girl?" He asked as she fell to the ground.

"Her ghost, I see her ghost. I see all of the ghosts," She shook her head. "I'm so scared of them." The sibling locked eyes, before picking the small girl up. "I swear I'm not crazy!" She shouted in fear, her eyes wide, those brown orbs of hers darting from sibling to sibling. They must think I'm insane! She yelled inwardly.

"Don't worry," Kris smiled kindly, rubbing her back while Shaun wiped away her tears.

"Just look at me," Shaun smiled, their eyes locking. Images of a life he'd never lived flashing before his lives. The two of them were playing outside with one another, laughing and smiling with one another with he placed a shy kiss on her cheek. He blinked in surprise, as did she. What was that? They both wondered, curiosity lingering in their eyes. "Don't look at anything else for now, it's just us two." Kris let go of the girl, pretending to gag once more. "No one else." His words were somehow calming and she couldn't help but feel the rest of the world drift away from them. A few minutes passed before she turned away.

"I can feel that the ghost has left for now," Sage blushed, trying to regain her sanity as well as dignity. "You guys must think i'm crazy. Everyone always thinks i'm crazy." She shakily pushed back her hair. "Even my own aunt and uncle. But it's in my bloodline to be able to see ghost. It's every other generation of my people usually," She sighed. "And now it just seems i'm spewing more nonsense."

"We believe you," Kris shouted at her, biting into a apple she took from one of the kids bag. The bright red flesh disappearing in her mouth as she chewed loudly.

"R-really?" Her gaze wavered towards the bold girl who was so unlike her. But oh how she wished she could be like Kris. Speak her mind whenever she wanted, not be afraid of everyone and everything around her.

"Yeah, I kinda figured that if we exist, ghost probably do to. Eh, I don't really know, I'm just going with the flow for now," Kris shrugged, tossing the apple out as she reached the core. "So how big is your house?" She asked, standing up and patting the dust off of her shorts.

"Decently big, why?" Sage asked, turning her head to the side in confusion. Her hair brushing to the side, revealing her creamy colored neck.

"We need a place to stay," Kris smiled kindly, moving closer to the small woman.

"Kris," Shaun growled out, his eyes glaring at her.

"What? It's true. She seems pretty interesting as well," Kris shrugged, glaring right back at her brother. "Besides I'm tired of staying in the gym."

"Don't go bothering her with our problems," Shaun glared at her.

"N-no I'm sure I can house you," Sage called out, hoping to break up the fight between the twins.

"No, we'll be fine. Honestly, we don't want to impose," Shaun smiled, glaring at his sister.

"Whatever," Kris muttered, rolling her eyes dramatically. "Fine, we'll just go back and sleep in the fucking gym," she grunted.

"T-then I'll come see you later tonight, at around 6 with dinner. You guys are probably hungry?" Sage assumed, blushing wildly once again at how bold she was being.

"I'd love to see you," Shaun said immediately, blushing at how blunt he sounded. "T-that is, I'm sure Kris would love to eat!" He laughed nervously, walking away before she could say anything in return.

"You're such a dork," Kris snickered, wincing in pain as he punched her arm.

"Shut up," He mumbled under his breath, cheeks still a light pink.

* * *

"found you," came a deep voice, whispering in Kris's ear.

"W-who are you!" She shouted, ignoring everything around her. They were standing on top of an ocean, staring at one another.

"I could ask you the same thing," He said. "Why do you keep appearing before me?" He asked.

"Me? Aren't you the one appearing before _me_?" She looked up at him in confusion, her hand reaching out to touch him. This was just a dream, afterall.

"You are-" His words began to fade away as everything around her began to melt. The world crumbling into a white blur.

* * *

"Shit," She mumbled under breath. "I was so close this time..." She forced her aching body into a sitting position it was then that she opened her eyes completely. Blurry and somewhat painful, her eyes tried to accustom to the light as well as her surroundings. Blinking in the dark gym, Kris suddenly remembered where she was. They had returned to the gym, pulled out some gymnastics mats and she ended up taking a nap. It was there fifth day at the school. Shaun insisted they stay. After all, who knew when the next time they would have fresh running water to shower in? Rather, that was his main excuse that he was using for the time being.

The cool floor burned her hands at the touch and she could hear a high pitched frequency, pounding in her ears. What was that noise? If the killer headache wasn't bad enough, then this inconsistent noise sure as hell wasn't helping.

"What is that?" Kris asked, stumbling over her words.

"What is what?" Shaun asked, looking back at his sister. His dark brown hair was spiky and messy, it looks like he just got up as well, Kris thought to herself.

"That noise," Kris said, grabbing at her head. She closed her eyes tightly. It's not like it was a loud sound, just loud enough to bother her. And the noise was so blatantly frustrating, it was like a noise that was trying to warn her. Warn her? She thought to herself in confusion, or perhaps it was fear...

"There isn't any noise?" Shaun raised an eyebrow towards her. "Maybe you should get more sleep," He chuckled, putting down his book.

"Whatever," She rolled her eyes, doing a back bend to stretch out her muscles. They tensed and relaxed as she got up, feeling her sore muscles screaming at her. She could really use some Advil right about now. Slowly, the noise began to disappear, the ringing in ears had finally ceased.

"Hey, wasn't Sage supposed to come with food today as well?" Kris asked nonchalantly, looking up at her brother innocently.

"She should be here soon," Shaun trailed off, his eyes flickering towards the door. The family were no strangers to disappointment. Perhaps she had finally gotten tired of the family.

"Of course she will," He looked at the door defiantly. She would surely come. Right? But they were strangers, it didn't matter that he felt some kind of attachment towards her. In the end, they were just two people who barely knew one another. Even he, was losing hope. And where would the family be if they didn't have hope? There was a loud pounding on the door and his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. Maybe he could hope, even if it was just a little. He ran towards the door, unable to contain his excitement. But when he opened the door, he was met with a horrid sight. There stood Sage, her shirt sleeve torn off and drenched in blood. She looked up at him, her eyeliner smeared down her face like she had been crying. Blood was on the edge of those big pink lips of hers and he could see a bruise forming on her cheek. Sage held onto a container of what looked like lasagna, the side covered in a sticky red substance. Her face was pale and her expression, that of pure and undeniable fear. Kris noticed that her long black hair was wavy due to the rain outside, she assumed she straightened her hair.

"H-help," Sage whispered, falling into Shaun's open arms as though all the life in her body had been suddenly stolen. He looked at her small legs to see cuts on them, her knees bleeding profusely. His eyes shone a lethal yellow, retaining the odd color as he looked down at her.

"Who did this to you?" He growled out, the sound he uttered sounded so utterly feral it sent shivers down Sage's back in fear. Kris looked out behind her to see a heavy rain storm, the sound of thunder ringing in her ears.

"I-they-and then," She began to hyperventilate, the weight of what had just happened crashing down on her. Sage grip on the plastic container tightened, her nails digging into the plastic painfully.

"Breathe," Kris suggested, rubbing her back. Sage nodded, taking a deep breathe, allowing her body to relax. She needed to explain her story, and quickly.

"I had just gotten in a fight with my aunt and uncle. They were saying how I need to get over the whole, seeing ghost thing, and my uncle. He-smacked me in the face," her hand reached out to touch the bruise beginning to form on her cheek. Tears were in those big brown eyes of hers, and the sight of it made Shaun sick. "A-anyways. He said he called up some doctors and I grabbed the food and ran out. But then there were these people who were waiting for me. They weren't armed but they attacked me nonetheless. I'm small, so I'm kinda fast and I got away from them. The only place I could think of running was here to you guys," She cried out. "I was so scared." She hugged Shaun tightly not noticing the murderous look on his face. Kris was shocked at how defensive he was getting. Sure, she was angry too. But not enough to kill the next person who even touched her. "They said something about being part of some organization, and that I was needed for a higher purpose?" She shook her head in confusion, thinking back on the people who attacked her. Shaun suddenly pushed her back in shock, watching as she scrunched up her nose at his reaction.

"Did you say the organization?" He stared at her, wide eyed. Kris cursed under her breath, running inside and packing everything up.

"Y-yeah, why?" She stuttered, watching as Kris ran around the gym picking up their belongings. "Does that mean something to you guys?"

"What it means is that we need to leave this town," Kris shouted over at them, Shaun shook his head sadly. He turned back towards his sister, his arm still surrounding Sage protectively.

"What about her? We can't just leave her here," He looked over at his panicking sister.

"What do you want to do? Bring her with us?" Kris asked, strapping the bags to her back.

"Yes," he turned to look at Sage, his eyes serious, "Sage. The organization are really bad people. They will catch you and test on you. They aren't nice people. Your best bet of survival is running away with us. I know this is a lot to take in but-" She cut him off with his hand.

"Hell yes," He blinked at her in shock. "I will most definitely run away with you guys. I can't stand it here and if you say i'm in danger then this is the best answer, right?" She smiled brightly. "But all my stuff," She looked down sadly. "My pictures of my family are back there." Shaun was still surprised at how quick she was to jump on the chance of running away. There wasn't even a hesitation. Even he had hesitated at the idea of running away from the orphanage. Every day his resolve wavered as he thought it would simply be easier or better for them to return home. But this girl, how could she agree so quickly?

"Wait, are you sure about this? We don't know what's going to happen to us. Nor can we guarantee your safety. Yet, you still want to run away with us?" Shaun asked, his eyes locked with hers.

"One day, I'll tell you my life story. And that day, you'll realize why I want to run away so badly," She grabbed his arm, looking into those bright blue eyes of his. "So for now, please just trust me, and take me with you. Please." Her voice was begging, pleading him to run away with her. And by god, he wasn't going to object to it. He smiled down at her, hugging her tightly.

"Then let's go get those pictures of yours," Kris grinned, her arm lighting up with electricity. She stepped outside the door in the pouring rain. The cool wetness on her fingers startled her, and she looked up to see those large rain drops smacking up against her face. "With all this lighting, I'm stronger than ever," She flashed a peace sign at the kids. Sage gaped at her, in particular, her arm that was bolting with electricity.

"You want to go back?" Sage cried out in shock. "It's too dangerous." She grabbed her other arm. "You could get hurt."

"Hey, my twin is really attached to you. I'm the oldest so I'm naturally gonna be tough. Don't worry about it," She waved her hand passively. "Just follow us and we can protect you while you get your stuff." Sage nodded solemnly before running towards her house, the twins not far behind.

"I hope you know that we're about to risk everything for this stranger," Kris whispered to Shaun as they went running in the direction of the house.

"I know, I know," He shook his head. "I don't know why, it's just..." He hesitated for the correct words. "I feel like we're connected or something. I just, I can't leave her," He blushed. The three had been running in silence for a few moments. She recalled a image of the Sage and Kris, playing in a river and shook her head. Even she felt like they were connected. Somehow. They knew each other, for that she could be certain.

"These better not be temporary feelings," Kris mumbled under her breath as they approached the house. Well, it was more of a barn than a house. And it was most definitely, red. And it was also most definitely silent. Kris held up a army knife she had bought at the nearby 7-11. Apparently, all the gas stations in Texas had them. They approached the white door carefully, peering inside slowly. She gagged when she saw what was inside. There laid, what she guessed, was Sage's aunt and uncle in a pool of their own blood.

"This is sick," Shaun growled out, covering his mouth. He covered Sage's eyes before she could see and Kris slowly led her upstairs.

"Let's just get her stuff and get out," Kris cried out in disgust, running up the stairs with Sage as Shaun scanned the perimeter. Kris walked upstairs as Shaun made sure the downstairs was safe before joining her once more. The two walked up to her room to find that it was almost empty. Just as bare as their room back at their Aunt's Shaun noted bitterly. Sage grabbed everything quickly and easily. There wasn't much in the room anyways. She simply stuffed everything into her black backpack. She packed the simple things, underwear, clothes, brush, toothbrush, some money she kept under her bed, a box of photos, some odd smelling herbs tied together with a necklace, and a odd looking wood box with a crescent moon on it. "That outta do it," She smiled up at the twins, getting ready to walk downstairs just as they heard the front door open and slam close. They froze as they heard the loud footsteps. Peering out the door with wide, scared eyes.

"Way to fucking go! You just _had _to attack her immediately," A man shouted out angrily. There was a loud crashing sound where he had knocked down some books in what the twins guessed as anger.

"I didn't think she could run so fast, she was so small," The other man argued back, his voice meek and apologetic. The twins looked at one another, then, at the window to Sage's bedroom. Shaun rose a eyebrow, shrugged and tiptoed over towards it. He slid the window open quietly, and ever so slowly. The two argued downstairs loudly and Shaun glanced at the small lamp on Sage's desk. He grabbed it, unplugged it, and threw it out the window as far as he humanly could. They could hear the loud smashing noise it made as it collided with the ground. And apparently, so could the men downstairs.

"Hey that's probably her! Most likely thinking we're gone," The boy snickered, running out the front door.

"Don't go screwing it up this time," the other man shouted back, his voice much older and strained than the other man as he followed after his partner.

"Come on," Shaun whispered, grabbing the backpack and running down the stairs quickly. They entered the kitchen, Kris quickly grabbing some food and a can opener before running out the back door after her brother.

"Good thing you scouted downstairs first," Kris whispered, the three running side by side. They ran a different path than the one they took to get to her house. Taking back alleys that seemed to lead on forever before finally arriving to the train station. By now, Kris was panting heavily, not used to having to move around quite so much.

"Jeez, you need to join a sport," Shaun snickered as they hopped over the once electrically charged fence.

"Oh shut up," Kris snapped, letting out a annoyed and ever so aggravated sigh. "We just ran 6 or so miles!" She growled out, her tone bitter. She looked over to her brother just as he hopped the fence to the train. "The train should be leaving in about 10 minutes if my schedules are correct," Kris said, looking at her brother and Sage. "So if we're gonna get on and hide, we're gonna need to do it now." They nodded and began to look for a appropriate boxcar. They were looking at a freight train and Kris thought back on the debate she once had about trains. There was a law passed in the 1980s about freight trains needing a caboose wasn't there? They no longer were required to have one, but some trains still had them, though they were never used. They walked to the end of the train, seeing a rectangle flashing red. A FRED, she thought to herself. This had to be a caboose then. There wasn't any use for them having them anymore with advanced technology but some companies still kept them. And that thought was enough for her to look around to make a makeshift key to the boxcar. She found a railroad plate with a spike poked through the square hole in the plate. She remember looking at some hobos blog about this. She thought back on what he wrote. 'Now, you take the square spike and place it into the square hole of the car carrier door and turn counter clockwise and voila, your auto-rack door opens, then you can load up inside and ride in style!' She did exactly what her mind reminded her, surprised that it worked. She motioned for everyone to follow her as she entered the cabooses. There were a few chairs, a bed, a table, and a bathroom. It was perfect.

"talk about good luck," Kris chuckled, closing the door and locking it behind them. Adding an electric charge to the door just in case.

"Woah, I didn't know trains were tricked out like this," Shaun gaped, plopping the bags down and sitting lazily on one of the chairs.

"That's because most train yards don't do it anymore. We're just lucky," Kris shrugged, sitting down on the bed. "The train should be going to Knoxville, Tennessee, then we might be able to take a bus up to Washington, D.C," Kris said aloud, looking at the two kids. "Well then Sage, I suppose we should tell you our life story," She nodded to herself.

"I am rather curious," Sage blushed.

"Well then, I'll let Shaun tell you," She grinned up at the two. Hana sat down next to her. "But seeing as though we're gonna be traveling together for a while, why don't you go ahead and tell us your story?" Kris asked, rolling on her stomach to look at the blushing girl.

"N-now?" She asked, her eyes darting from her to the door. Kris sighed at her reaction, she didn't want to force her into anything.

"How about this, after the first day or so of traveling together, you can tell us. By then we should all be rather comfortable together," Kris suggested, looking at the hispanic woman.

"Gracias," Sage smiled, cursing as she realized she was speaking the wrong language.

"De nada," Kris laughed, turning away from her brother and Sage. Allowing him to explain their story to the girl. Well, the useful parts that is. Not that they were going to go in full detail with this stranger.

Shaun let out a exhausted sigh, making herself comfortable on one of the chairs. Oh, how he felt tired.

"Well it all started a few days ago-" He began, going into the details of their adventure and their destination, the two holding hands all the while. Courtesy of Kris. And despite their good fortune of finding a nice caboose, the teens couldn't help but feel like they would have to struggle the rest of their lives. And this, this was only the beginning of a very long journey.

* * *

Me- So I'm rather excited about this series. I've finally gotten most of the story planned out. And MAN is it gonna be one hell of a thriller. It's mixed with mystery, romance, adventure, fantasy, sci-fi, my god it has everything! I've grown to love this story and it's characters :D And I hope that you guys will too. I truly hope you've enjoyed the story so far. Don't forget to add a review. I won't know how to become a better writer or improve this story otherwise. Thanks!


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